The Queen's Legacy Expedition

Beyond the frontlines in Starus, Silver-class adventurer Kulan was a veteran entering his ninth year. City-born and hailed as a prodigy from childhood thanks to his overflowing talent, he had always been the leader among his peers. While other children his age played at dueling with mana-infused training weapons in the alleys, Kulan could take on several opponents by himself. The boy who stood out so clearly had naturally dreamed of becoming an adventurer. After debuting at eighteen and subjugating countless monsters, he successfully rose to Silver-class. Even as the years passed, his passion never cooled. To accelerate his gradually slowing growth, he had come to the frontline fortress of Starus. The dangerous environment did quicken his progress and delivered satisfying results. He believed that with a few more years of effort he would be ready to aim for Gold-class, but lately his heart had begun to feel strangely empty.

“Why isn’t living fun anymore?”

His life had been smooth. Of course there had been crises. Monster attacks had left donut-like holes in his body. He had once hovered on death’s door after being hit with a vile cocktail of neurotoxin, acid, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and bleeding poisons all at once. He had survived only because fellow adventurers came running at his distress signal. Yet despite everything, Kulan had fallen into a crushing sense of powerlessness.

“Have I really fallen into a slump?”

The helplessness had grown too heavy recently. When his worried colleagues suggested he take a break, Kulan had seriously considered it. Maybe he had run without rest for too long and burned himself out.

He was sitting on the first-floor sofa in the guild as usual, wondering what to do, when he overheard the staff.

“Where should we post this request?”

“Adventurers will lose their minds over it, so hang it somewhere impossible to miss.”

“I think so too. Even I got excited when I saw it.”

Interest flickered across Kulan’s face. A request that would make adventurers go crazy? As an adventurer himself, he could not ignore such a conversation. He dragged his lethargic body up and walked to the request board. The moment he read the posting the staff had just put up—

“……!”

“This is it.”

He had finally realized the reason for his apathy. He had grown smoothly until now, yet he had rarely used that power to leave any real mark on the world. Why had he wanted to become an adventurer? Wasn’t it because he had dreamed of becoming like the heroes in the fairy tales the old storyteller told him every day as a child, the heroic feats of adventurers the adults always talked about, the great figures he and his friends pretended to be during their daily role-playing games?

The legacies those heroes left behind were so magnificent they remained famous long after their deaths, but he himself had yet to accomplish anything of similar scale. That was why he had felt so powerless.

“Yes! This is it! This is why I’ve been feeling helpless!”

A request posted personally by the War Ant Princess herself—to reclaim the legacy her mother had left behind? He had never seen a request so interesting or one he wanted to join so badly.

“This is my fated request!”

Even if he simply joined the expedition and performed adequately, his name would spread far and wide. Yet more than fame, Kulan’s desire to participate burned hotter. For some reason his intuition whispered that this request would greatly influence the fate of the North.

“Receptionist! This request! I want to join—can I?!”

Burning with determination, Kulan dashed to the reception counter. Other adventurers noticed the commotion and flocked to the bulletin board, and the uproar quickly spread. It was only natural.

As expected, the moment Adela’s request appeared on the board the reaction was explosive.

“What? The War Ant Princess is preparing an expedition to reclaim the Queen’s legacy?”

“A request that sets an adventurer’s blood on fire like this—I can’t possibly stay calm!”

“Dangerous journey, constant threats, safe return uncertain? That’s exactly what I’ve been waiting for!”

From the very first day it was posted, several adventurers had examined it with sparkling eyes. Because it was such a unique request, word spread across all of Starus within ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hours through the mouths of gossips. It was only natural that attention would focus on the single posting that had brought real change to a frontlines request board otherwise filled 99 percent with monster subjugation, terrain exploration, and ecosystem survey jobs. In truth, it drew tremendous attention.

“Excuse me. Is this the Argo party that posted the expedition request? I’d like to hear about the conditions.”

“The Queen’s legacy! I’m dying to know how you ended up going after it—can you tell the story?”

“Oh! Aren’t you the protagonists who recently turned Starus upside down? Since it’s fate, today’s meal is on me—free of charge!”

People came to ask about participation conditions, others wanted to hear the story behind the Queen’s legacy, and some simply wanted to meet the popular figures who had shaken up Starus. All kinds of people showed interest. The interesting part was that most of them were as strong as me or stronger. This was the frontlines, after all—Silver-class and Gold-class adventurers swarmed the place—and every single one of them seemed interested in the request Adela had posted. It felt a little surreal.

“…Sir Hornst?”

“W-what are you talking about? I’m not Hornst.”

“But aren’t you a member of the Knight Order, Sir Hornst? Shouldn’t someone responsible for frontline defense be elsewhere?”

“Honestly, on the frontlines aren’t knights and adventurers basically the same? So if I just leave my post to a Gold-class adventurer I know for a little while…!”

“You already left your post recently. If you disappear again, won’t Count Edenberg smile while wrapping his fist in aura?”

“…Ugh! How vexing!”

There were troublesome visitors, but we somehow handled them all.

While dealing with the crowd and waiting for the recruitment date, an especially interesting guest came to see us.

“The Starus command is interested in our request?”

“Yes. The destination of your expedition happens to overlap almost perfectly with Magranas’s expected migration route.”

“So the timing coincided with the command’s plan to organize an exploration team.”

“We will cover all expenses. We have supplies already prepared for exploration, so you only need to bring yourselves.”

Willian, who introduced himself as a staff officer from Starus Headquarters, smiled confidently and made an extremely attractive offer. It seemed the staff officers wanted to seize the opportunity while Starus’s attention was focused here; every condition in the contract was written in our favor. Had we received such an offer in another region I might have suspected trickery, but in the North anyone who played games with matters like these would have their heads smashed in by the citizens first, so there was no need to worry.

I signed the contract at once, then asked just in case.

“It’s not because too many knights expressed interest in joining that you’re proposing this, is it?”

“…It is true that the schedules overlap.”

Willian’s awkward smile said everything. Seeing his weary expression, I quietly patted his shoulder in comfort. If there were ten people like Hornst, the staff officers’ heads would surely split open.

“Thank you. We’ll also take full responsibility for the expedition recruitment in a few days.”

“That would be a great help.”

“We’ll select only the finest talents, so you needn’t worry.”

Having formed a strange bond with the command staff, we left the administrative work to these reliable people and waited for the promised time.

A few days later, a record-breaking ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠53-to-1 competition rate was smashed and a team of fifty elite expedition members was formed. Adding the fifty explorers organized by the command, scholars for ecosystem research, and guild staff, a large-scale expedition was officially assembled.

“Uhahaha! Look at this, Argo! I’ve officially joined the expedition!”

“I knew you would come once the command expressed interest.”

“Everyone, it’s been a while~ Have you all been well? I’ve been doing wonderfully, of course.”

“It’s been a while, Mr. Owen.”

When the minimum-Silver powerhouses gathered in one place, familiar faces appeared. I greeted them warmly and examined the members of the expedition. There were skilled individuals I had only heard of in passing at the guild, and adventurers whose names were on everyone’s lips these days.

Having suddenly become the leader of this expedition, I scratched my head with a troubled expression. Adela was the main party, but she had transferred all command authority to me. The command had also stated that since the expedition’s purpose was to retrieve the legacy, they had no intention of infringing on our rights.

“I’m not sure I can handle this well.”

“It’s true that even I haven’t commanded this many skilled individuals often, but it should still be good experience.”

“When in life will you ever get an opportunity like this? There’s a saying that if you can’t avoid it, you should enjoy it—so enjoy it to the fullest.”

I nodded at their words. Yes. If not for a chance like this, when would I ever get to lead a force of this caliber? As Owen said, I decided to simply enjoy the moment.

“For now we’ll move according to the original plan.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve spoken firmly to the men below, so no one will disobey your orders.”

“Don’t worry about scouting. The guild has dispatched intelligence agents.”

I smiled at the reassuring words from the two men. After confirming the expedition was fully prepared, I looked at the neatly lined-up team and shouted.

“““Waaaaaaaaah!”””

The moment I gave the vigorous order, the expedition let out a thunderous cheer and advanced beyond the frontlines.